Cape Coral is using a free app -- Ping4alerts! -- to instantly notify citizens of public safety concerns. The City is using advancing technology to share information with residents and visitors in Cape Coral. With the growth of smartphone use, the Ping4alerts! mobile communications solution presents a great tool to "get the word out" on immediate dangers and emergencies.

Residents and visitors can download the app on their Apple or Android devices. Ping4alerts! gives the City the ability to effectively deliver relevant, real-time emergency messages to mobile devices. In addition, citizens who download ping4alerts! will receive up-to-the-minute severe weather advisories and alerts from the National Weather Service.

Ping4alerts! is a free iOS and Android app that uses the location-based technology inherent in today’s smartphones to deliver notifications within a highly localized area. Using any web browser, an agency can draw a shape on a map as small as a street or broadcast a message to the entire city. The app delivers rich media alerts that can include images, custom audio, video and mobile web links. These features coupled with the platform’s precise accuracy, ensure public safety information is targeted, instant and, above all, relevant.

Ping4alerts! protects user anonymity and does not require users to provide any personally identifiable information such as a phone number, street address or email address. These mobile notifications are delivered over the Internet through GPS, cellular, and available Wi-Fi networks. Other features of the app include the ability to view nearby level 2 and level 3 sex offenders, and users can establish watched locations for home, work, school.